Frank Lampard sacked, Thomas Tuchel next?

It is common knowledge that football is a ruthless sport and it is one that can have a lot of negative ramifications when things are not working out. It is all about the results and to some degree that is fair, but it is also worth pointing out that there are a lot of factors that play a role in the success or failure of every single project. And Frank Lampard’s tenure at Chelsea is a prime example of that.

Frank Lampard has been sacked by Chelsea after what was considered by their board as a poor performance in terms of results. The now Chelsea’s former manager had the team in the 9^th place of the English Premier League with subpar performances and not getting the most of the 200 million pound investment they did in the summer with signings such as Timo Werner, Kai Havertz or Hakim Ziyech.

There are a lot of reports floating around, but it is very likely that former Paris Saint Germain and Borussia Dortmund manager, Thomas Tuchel, is the next manager at Stamford Bridge. And while it is almost impossible to question the German’s resume and tactical knowledge, recent reports revealed that while Frank Lampard didn’t cover himself with glory, the situation at Chelsea is a lot more complicated.

Based on reports, a lot of the signings the club made this summer were not really Lampard’s desires but Chelsea tries to seize market opportunities regardless of the requests by Lampard. And apparently only Ben Chilwell was the only signing that genuinely had Frank Lampard’s approval. This played a role in the team’s poor performances as the now-former Chelsea manager was not 100% on board with new players coming in.

Add to that there were dressing room problems and Lampard was not talking with a lot of the players for periods of time that stretched out to even months, which is certainly worrying. Chelsea board had no problem in cutting ties with Frank Lampard as they feel they can build the squad and just find a manager that can make this group of players work. It is no secret that Chelsea are a very results-driven club and the fact they have had ten managers in eleven years is a testament to that. It is also true that Lampard showed that he still has a lot to learn as a manager falling short from a tactical perspective and when it comes to man-management. But handling a squad that is not built for you and your approach was always going to be an issue as Lampard basically had to start from scratch yet again after what he did last season.

Overall, there are very valid reasons to sack Frank Lampard, but it doesn’t mean that everything is going to be alright at Chelsea. Tuchel is known as a very harsh manager with players and not exactly a short term success-kind of coach, so the Chelsea board might have to exercise a bit of patience on that end.